HOW i SHOT THiS

  • afternoon
  • Moody
  • veil over eyes
  • Veil
  • Thought provoking
  • surreal
  • Soft Light
  • Shade
  • Serious
  • Portrait
  • Natural Light
  • Natural
  • Intimate Framing
  • Bride
  • green
  • gentle
  • eyes closed
  • Dark
  • crown
  • Close up
  • Center Framed
  • calm
  • bush
  • bride eyes closed
  • veil over head

The story behind the image

Show more
This image was taken at an outdoor styled shoot and our model, Catherine, did a great job posing for this image. I decided to play with the veil and accessories by creating this sort of ‘crown’ since the theme of the shoot was “a muse that inspires every artist”, and Catherine portrayed exactly this. We chose to do the shoot at a villa in Tuscany and this particular shot was made using a rather tall hedge as a background. These hedges are incredibly beautiful here in Italy and fortunately, the villa had them in its garden.
Show more

Directions

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

Since Catherine is a professional model, I didn’t need to give her too many directions – though I did ask her to try to interpret the dream of an artist, her muse, the one who inspires art. Making the model close her eyes allowed me to underline this aspect, emphasizing the ecstasy of the complete abandonment of the body and mind.

Show more
What did you say?

Breathe, look down and close your eyes. Try and imagine that you are the embodiment of an artist’s muse.

Show more
Tone of Directions

Calm

Composition

I kept the composition centered with one of the ‘rule of third’ lines running right across the gaze of the model. This puts the eyes, which are the home of the emotions in our model, right in a balanced point of the image. In my photos, I often try and find symmetry and centrality of the subject. And in this particular case, I tried to do just that. I also chose to frame this quite close up since I wanted the model’s expressions to really be felt by the viewer.

Show more
framing

Center Framed

Focusing

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

Since I wanted the focus of the image to be on the emotions of the model, and the eyes are the ‘window to the soul’, I chose to put my focus on the eyes of the model. Very simply with a single focus point & with autofocus.

Show more
Focus Mode

Single Shot Autofocus

Focus POints

Single Point

Focused on

the brides eyes

Equipment &
Exif

Camera
sony A390
Lens
Sony 35mm f/1.4
Flash
None
Filter
None
1/1000 @ f/2.8 ISO100 WB-Auto

The way the EXIF is written out follows the common photographic method (with the inclusion of White Balance at the end). Here it is broken down:

Shutter Speed @ Aperture ISO White Balance.

Light & Weather

During the shoot, the sky was covered with clouds and this worked out perfectly for me as it creates this really soft and even lighting while also creating some gentle shadows. There were no sharp or harsh contrasts. The light was coming from just behind the subject but due to the clouds, it didn’t quite matter.

Show more
Light Type

Natural Light

Time of day

Afternoon

Editing Workflow

How did you edit this image?

I usually like to give my images a kind of ‘theatrical/cinematic’ and timeless feel. In this image, I used the Meridian preset, although lately I find myself going back to editing in Camera Raw. My style is moody and I love to underexpose when shooting. For this image, I adjusted the exposures as well as the curves and contrasts to create this darker mood and feel.

Show more
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic

Challenges

It looked like it may rain at any point but this actually worked out to my advantage as I really love the moodiness of the ‘storm’.

Show more

Solutions

Make the most of every situation, I always avoid putting myself in direct sunlight, but rather in the shade to always keep my style consistent.

Show more

Location

Location Name

Villa Pazzi al Parugiano

Location aDDRESS

Via Montalese, 223, 59013 Montemurlo PO, Tuscany

Loation Type

Wedding / Event Venue

Country

Italy

I always try and use the weather to my advantage, and to experiment with light that isn’t always what we are used to. I also don’t worry too much about weather forecasts and rather embrace things as they are.

Read More

Login to your account

Oh no :(

This content has been marked as Premium and requires an active subscription in order to access it. We’re so sorry about that. But hey, here’s what you can do:

Join the
family

Get access to everything on the site as well as a ton of perks & benefits.

Have an account?

Well then, let’s get you logged in and hide this annoying thingy-ma-jig.